When the foundations of house music were being laid in the late 80s, Sweden’s Tim Bergling was barely out of the cradle. Eighteen years later, in 2008, and under the stage name Avicii, Bergling won a competition hosted by Pete Tong and caught the attention of renowned DJs like Laidback Luke and Tiësto. Bromance, released last year, has been his biggest track to date, closely followed by the fiasco of the Leona Lewis/Avicii track Collide (she used the beat; he didn’t know about it). Luckily for music-kind, the dispute was settled. Time Out chats with the young Swede ahead of his first Hong Kong gig spinning at dragon-i’s ninth anniversary celebrations.

Can you remember what the music scene in Sweden was like at the beginning of your career?
When I first started producing, the DJ scene wasn’t that big. But towards the end, where I started getting gigs, it was really on the rise. Everyone wanted to be a DJ.

Has the Swedish scene been quite influential to you?
I would say it’s shaped my style and career a lot due to the fact that the people I looked up to were Swedish DJs such as the Swedish House Mafia guys and Eric Prydz. They were my biggest idols.

Your young age is obviously talked about a lot. Do you ever get sick of fielding questions about this?
Not really! I just feel proud and fortunate to be able to do what I’m doing at my age so it doesn’t bother me when people bring it up.

Do you think if you had gotten your break a couple of years later, your style or attitude towards music would have changed?
Hard to say, but I think so. It definitely has a big impact when you do get your break and what kind of experience you have going into it. With that said, I was really lucky to have my manager make important decisions for me and don’t think it could have ended up a better journey to where I’m at today.

You’ve had an incredible amount of releases this year. It must be like picking your favourite children, but any favourites for you?
Definitely my track Levels. Just because of the reactions and feedback I’ve gotten for it.

Any last words for your fans here?
Never been to Hong Kong and was just very briefly in Asia. But I love how different the lifestyles are at the places I’ve been to and I’m really looking forward to experiencing something different again. Can’t wait to get there… it’s gonna be an amazing party!

Interview: Andrea Yu

Avicii spins on Friday 9 with Cirque du Soir for dragon-i’s ninth anniversary. Tickets: $1,200